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Friday, October 24, 2008

An evening with Andrew Peterson

The songwriting is terrific from start to finish, whether noting how resurrection in all of life is an ongoing transformative process in "All Things New" or offering flowing, poetic praise to our "Invisible God." ... Peterson may be a unique voice, but it's precisely why we need him to set an example in Christian music.--Russ Breimeir, Christianity Today

It's one of the marks of a good singer when he can capture your attention and touch your heart with just his voice and an instrument or two. Such was the case last night at the Andrew Peterson concert in Rockford, IL.

When I interviewed Andrew about his fiction book, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, I was struck with his warm personality and sense of humor. Of course, I had heard several of his songs, but had never seen him in person.

The concert, aimed at promoting Andrew's new CD, Resurrection Letters Vol.II, was an intimate, low-key evening infused with Biblical insights as well as humor and whimsy.

As Andrew sang--accompanied by himself on the piano or guitar--a PowerPoint screen would flash Bible verses that inspired the song. Between songs, the screen was also used for fun, with humorous videos that were purportedly about the making of the album, but were really showcases for the quirky humor of Andrew and his friends and collaborators, Ben Shive and Andrew Gullahorn.

Andrew even entertained us with a song from his enchanting children's album, Slugs, Bugs and Lullabies (already a favorite of my toddler grandson!).

Audience laughter was frequent when Andrew related the stories behind the songs, but also frequent were the moments of genuine praise and emotion.

Andrew Peterson is one Christian artist who doesn't try to disguise Who he's singing about. The songs of Resurrection Letters Volume II all point to Christ and how he makes all things new. "He's in the business of fixing broken people," Andrew Peterson pointed out last night, and that message came through loud and clear.

--You can listen to my April 2008 interview with Andrew Peterson here.

--Check out my audio review of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness on my sidebar.